Tupelo Tornado: Seeking to Save

Needless to say, the tornado yesterday is still uppermost in my mind. There have been countless stories of grace in the midst of the storm, and I hope to hear every single one before I'm done. The story tonight is one from my office. I'm still astounded. 

Our office was right in the path of the storm. It crossed over us. We heard it overhead, we were spared, and we are still incredibly grateful. 

I waited out the storm in the biohazard room of our office with four of our nurses. When we finally got the all-clear, we rose from the floor and, with shaky legs made our way out of the safe haven. As we began to gather our things to head home, Louise clearly was in no hurry to leave. "Are you ready to go?" someone asked her. "No," she said. "I'm waiting on Mark. He's on his way down here."  

Louise's husband, Mark, is a farmer just outside Blue Springs. He had been monitoring the storm and keeping in touch with Louise. When it was clear the tornado was coming our way, we headed into the safe room. What we didn't know was that Mark also realized the tornado was headed our way and that we were directly in it's path. He tried to call his sweet wife. No answer. He tried texting. No response. He tried it all again. You can well imagine his thoughts. 

This worried husband did the only thing that made sense to him at the time. He got in his truck and drove to get his wife. She was in danger and he was going to rescue her. No knight in shining armor was ever more brave. Mark arrived at the office within minutes of our leaving the safe room, which means he was driving directly toward an active tornado to seek for and save his wife. 

That, my friends, is real love in action. It is, in fact, the very love Christ has demonstrated toward us. He, too, came to seek and save those who were in mortal danger, perishing from the whirlwind of our own sinful choices. He, too, braved the fury of hell itself to save His bride, the church. 

It's amazing to me, but this gentle, kind man loves his wife EXACTLY like Christ loves the church. He was willing to risk everything to save her.  If you asked him, he would say, "It was no big deal.  I just couldn't get her and didn't know what was happening." He doesn't even see himself as a hero, but he is. If you ask me, Louise is the luckiest woman I know. She's married to a real-life knight in shining armor who would lay down his life to save her!

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I'm collecting stories of grace in the midst of the storm for a book to benefit storm victims. If you'd be willing to share your story of grace please message me or email it to graceinthestorm@gmail.com